Wire Leaders On Crank Baits ?

[MikePaintsBaits]

Has anyone ever used a wire leader on a crank bait while bass fishing , due to losing your baits to northern pike ? If you have what size leader ? I'm fishing clear water , so what color leader would work best ? Silver or black leader?

I'm sure the leader will kill some of the action as well.

Thanks For Any Help

Mike

Edited April 10, 2011 by MikePaintsBaits

[diemai]

Has anyone ever used a wire leader on a crank bait while bass fishing , due to losing your baits to northern pike ? If you have what size leader ? I'm fishing clear water , so what color leader would work best ? Silver or black leader?

I'm sure the leader will kill some of the action as well.

Thanks For Any Help

Mike

In Germany this is most likely essential , often even demanded by fishing restrictions ,........ even when fishing for perch , zander , asp and even trout sometimes(don't have bass over here) , a wire leader is essential , as pike are stocked in almost every swim .

But what I've found is , that attaching a wire leader to many US-made crankbait models renders these to slowly sink or suspend , and I'm sure , that it would happen as well to many high end Japanese lures(don't own any).

So you need to go as light as possible with your leaders , local angling magazines recommend steel 7 X 7 strands , 10 lbs test minimum .

1 X 7 strands leaders are cheaper , but more stiffish than the 7 X 7 stuff , ............I don't fish such minor buoyant baits a lot , I always go for the cheaper stuff making my leaders , ........but if you wanna go more subtle , you need to spend more .

I sometimes purchase my leader material here :

My link

Probably the camou brown steel stranded steel wire without a coating might suit your needs , it's pretty thin , thus not easily visible , ......... the crimping sleeves available there are also quite small .

Such leaders usually do not have to be made that long(thus to save weight) , 6" to 8" may be enough already to serve as a little pike insurance policy for smaller bass lures , but with larger and more buoyant lures one should increase the length to at least 12" + and also go thicker than just 10 lbs test , ...........also utilize the smallest possible yet test pound weight matching snaps and swivels for the leaders .

I prefer homemade leaders , as I am much more convident with these , and I can also match them to my needs , .......never tried the modern "hard mono" leaders , as I only trust in pure steel to withstand pike's teeth .

good luck , diemai

Edited April 10, 2011 by diemai

[Bester]

I make my Musky leaders out of 60lbs mon. I like them better than wire.

[Sharptooth]

Flourocarbine Leaders at 50 lb test. Alot lighter than steal and virtually invisable in the water. I make my own for Musky Fishing but you can grab them on E-bay to.

[troutninja]

I agree with going fluorocarbon.. I have hauled in about everything with them and had no issues..

[.dsaavedra.]

could you braid like 3 or 4 strands of 20lb mono to make a leader?

[Central]

If you are cranking fast I don't think the wire leader is a huge issue, especially if you are fishing in weeds. I fish clear water and regularly pull up 16-19" smallmouth (on cranks and spinners ) with my black 12" 7 stand 90lbs leader (0.038").

I fish for pike but occasionally fish for smallmouth so I'm not entirely sure if I'm missing out on loads of fish. That being said if I were you I'd stick with a wire leader but go with the thinnest diameter you can for instance you can get:

15lb 7 strand coated leader @ 0.015"

20lb 7 strand coated leader @ 0.024"

30lb 7 strand uncoated leader @ 0.015"

27lb sing strand leader @ 0.010

80lb sing strand leader @ 0.020"

20lb twistweld leader @ 0.020"

The single strand is going to be the lightest, thinnest, and will impede the bait the least. I just looked on cabelas and you can get 767 ft of the 27lb single strand for 9.99. That's at least 700 leaders at 1.4 cents each!

If you're going to be catching pike on accident regularly you'll have to retie the mono or flouro leaders regularly and you will have bit offs at 50lbs flouro or even heavier as pike will inhale the small bass baits. You'll have to retie the single strand but you won't have bite offs, the action will likely be equal and the wire is so thin I doubt the bass will even notice (if I were a bass I'd be far more concerned about those dangling hooks and split rings than a hair thin leader).

Edited April 11, 2011 by Central